The present disclosure relates generally to the field of dental treatment. More specifically the present disclosure relates to calculating and displaying occlusion data for a patient.
One dental treatment objective of orthodontics is to move a patient's teeth into an optimal final occlusion, or a position in which the teeth function optimally and are aesthetically pleasing to the patient. Appliances such as braces, which are often a bracket and arch wire system, are applied to the teeth of the patient by a dental treatment professional.
The brackets in the braces system are mounted on the surface of the teeth of a patient and the arch wire couples all of the brackets on the same jaw to one another. The arch wire can be incrementally tightened over time during office visits to the treatment professional, exerting a continual force on the teeth, gradually moving them toward a desired final position.
Another system for treating dental malocclusions has become available under the trade name Invisalign® System. The Invisalign® System can have multiple components. For example, one component available in the Invisalign® System is called ClinCheck® and allows practitioners to simulate treatment of teeth by observing and modeling multiple stages of tooth movement.
Based on the results of the ClinCheck® component, another component (i.e., dental appliances called aligners) can be utilized. Such dental appliances can be thin, clear, and/or plastic removable devices that can be created, for example, to correspond to each treatment stage of the ClinCheck® simulation.
The aligners can be manufactured using advanced computing device-controlled fabrication systems. In such manufacturing processes, each aligner can be worn by the patient for a period of time before it is exchanged for a next stage aligner intended to further reposition the teeth.
The Invisalign® System addresses many of the limitations of conventional braces. For instance, if the Invisalign® System dental appliance is made from a clear material, it can be virtually invisible and, therefore, more aesthetically pleasing for the patient.
In some applications, the Invisalign® System dental appliances can be generally less painful and/or uncomfortable than braces. Additionally, the Invisalign® System dental appliances can be removed to permit better oral hygiene by allowing access to the tooth surfaces rather than having the braces attached thereto and the arch wires spanning of them, thus being more healthy for the patient's teeth.